Unnoticed characters in Bruegel’s paintings

Abstract

A number of Bruegel’s paintings have a very deep, but often unobvious meaning. Some of his characters and details that remain unnoticed at a quick look may ask a viewer to reconsider the first impression and sometimes even change it radically with a completely different interpretation of its content. Details in Bruegel’s paintings are very delicate and define the way of expressing the artist’s attitude toward his painting, the meaning imbeded in the depicted scene, something that might be not understood at superficial acquaintance with a piece. Bruegel also showed that the sublime may reside in something physically small and unobservable, in something that might seem ordinary at first glance. The article suggests an analysis of the details of the following paintings by Bruegel: “Children’s Games”, “The Procession to Calvary”, “The Conversion of St. Paul”, “Haymaking”, “The Numbering at Bethlehem”.

Keywords:

Peter Bruegel, Paintings by Bruegel, “Children’s Games”, “The Procession to Calvary”, “The Conversion of St. Paul”, “Haymaking”, “The Numbering at Bethlehem”